Godhra case: Acquitted reach hometown after 8 yrs

Godhra (Guj): Sixty-three people, including
main accused Maulvi Hussain Umarji, acquitted in the 2002
Godhra train burning case, on Wednesday reached their hometown here
after spending almost eight years in prison.

A special court in Ahmedabad yesterday acquitted 63
people and convicted 31 in the February 27, 2002 incident,
which left 59 people dead, mostly karsevaks, triggering worst
ever communal riots in the country in which about 1200, mainly
Muslims lost their lives.
Those acquitted were released from the high-security
Sabarmati jail late last night and taken to Godhra in two
buses, which reached here early this morning.

Umarji, who was released by the court for lack of
evidence stayed away from media allegedy due to health reasons
when reporters went to meet him.

"He is taking rest as he has low blood pressure," his
relatives said.

Umarji`s son Saeed, however, expressed dissatisfaction on
the delayed verdict and said, "Justice has been done late in
case of my father. He had to spend eight important years of
his life behind bars."

"If police had conducted proper investigations and
arrested the right persons then those who have been let off
would not have had to suffer," Saeed said.

Other accused in the Godhra train carnage also refused
to interact with the media, saying that they will be able to
react only once the quantum of sentence is announced on
February 25.
Advocate I M Munshi representing the acquitted persons
said they will wait for full copy of the judgement which will
be made available to them only after quantum of sentence is
announced on Friday, before deciding final course of action.

"We do not agree with the court upholding the conspiracy
theory. We will wait for the copy of the judgement. We will
study it and will decided on the future course of action," he
said.

Special Judge P R Patel, hearing the Godhra train
burning case found 31 people guilty in the case for
criminal conspiracy and murder, while acquitting 63 others.

The Court had upheld the theory of criminal conspiracy
behind the burning of the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express
train near Godhra railway station killing karsevaks returning
from Ayodhya.